Newcastle coach Justin Holbrook has welcomed Nathan Cleary’s place on the bench for Penrith’s preliminary final, while warning his side not to become distracted by the Panthers halfback’s altered role.
Holbrook said Newcastle had not built its preparations around Cleary and did not expect Penrith to abandon its usual approach despite the change.
“I’m OK with it, that’s for sure [Cleary benching]. We haven’t over-emphasised him as a player – they won’t change the way they play,” Holbrook said.
“As usual, most of the focus is on ourselves and improving on last week. But yeah, we’re OK with that.”
Holbrook acknowledged Penrith’s preference for controlling matches and setting the agenda, but insisted Newcastle would not be drawn into changing its own style.
“They like to dictate the game, and I think our style doesn’t let them do that,” he said.
He added that Penrith had won plenty of matches without Cleary in previous years and that Newcastle’s priority was to concentrate on its own performance.
“We don’t need to change anything or play any differently, but even with him [Cleary] not playing or coming off the bench, they’ve won plenty of games without him in years gone by,” Holbrook said.
“They’re not going to lose a lot – obviously, he’s a great player – but for us, we just want to make sure we play our footy.”
